Swiss Re Sees $408 Billion Mortality Protection Gap

Elsewhere in the report, the institution economists say:

• Only 46% of the households in the world have enough life insurance and other resources to maintain family members' standard of living if the primary breadwinner dies.
• About 55% of households in North America have enough resources to maintain the survivors' standard of living if the primary breadwinner dies.
• The North American natural catastrophe resilience index has increased slightly, to 40, from 39.8.

The institute economists say governments have done about all that they can do to strengthen the world economy by holding down interest rates and borrowing money to fund government spending programs.

"The focus must turn to structural reforms," the economists write. "This should include targeted investments into sustainable and quality infrastructure, the digital economy and the transition to a low-carbon economy."

Why It Matters

The institute's views matter, because Swiss Re has a record of having a good crystal ball.

A Swiss Re student team shocked the world in 2016 by predicting that a pandemic comparable to the 1918 influenza pandemic would cause more than $4 trillion in economic losses.

The official COVID-19 death toll now standards at about 3.8 million, or about 8% of the 1918 pandemic death toll, and the World Health Organization director general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, has estimated that the pandemic has caused $22 trillion in economic losses.

(Photo: NASA)